Absolution aside, I absolutely loved the movie.
It was great.
It came full circle in a way that cyclical sagas are supposed to do, and the prequels totally failed at, the characters were spot on, the dialogue was on the quippy side of natural, which beats the pants off the annoying somber stilted dialogue of the prequels, and I think rivals the originals. The effects were gorgeous, everything Lucas kept not quite achieving when he went back and prettied up the originals and more. Only a couple times were the special effects obviously computer generated, and it all just worked. I have some quibbles, but no moreso than with any of the originals, or any of my favorite movies in general.
Honestly, I think that if the next two are on the same level, when kids watch all the movies together with no nostalgia bias someday, the new ones will be viewed as the best of the franchise. It hasn't supplanted Jedi as my favorite, but that is largely due to nostalgia. Critically, I think it is a better movie.
I love all the unanswered questions, things that were left for us to piece together, etc. Like, you can tell that the Resistance is a separate thing from the Republic, and not officially sanctioned, which I guess matches up with info from the new books, but the movie just establishes that off screen, and then tells a story that takes it into account, so you have to be paying attention to get it, which is a hard thing to do well.
I feel like these new movies will inspire just as much head cannon speculation, roleplaying characters and adventures, and endless nerd discussions as the originals, and for me, that is the most exciting thing.
Random point about the map plot: I think the whole idea was that Luke left behind a way to find him, trusting in the Force to guide the right person at the right time. He may even have seen it in a vision.
quibbles: The Kylo Ren reveal could have waited, IMO. That quibble may well disappear with subsequent movies, though. We will see.
The old guy in the beginning seemed like a waste of a great actor. Hopefully he comes into play either later somehow, or gets used in offshoot movies down the line that tell us what happened before TFA.
If Phasma is dead, that's a terrible waste. Hopefully she isn't, and gets the focus she deserves in the next one, or the one after.
The destruction of an entire star system didn't hit as hard as it should have. 5 minutes worth of establishing an emotional connection to an otherwise inconsequential character on one of the planets would have done the trick. Have some info conveyed to Liea before the attack via a character that is then shown in the attack.
That's pretty much it.
